The love! There's so much love! I can barely stand it! :D I appreciate ALL of your reviews from just TWO stories. I'm even considering giving you the NEXT chapter in an hour or so. ;)
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Jack spent the next few weeks practicing his parts, taking the fact that the Guardians had never lost at the Winter Concert seriously. He went over to North's to ask him about how he should do the dance moves- he was surprised that such a big man could be so graceful and flexible-, and practiced his and Tooth's parts with her, trying to make sure their parts coincided with each other just right. He even went down to Bunny's Warren to practice.
"I don't think I've ever seen you this concentrated, mate," Bunny once told him after they had mastered their duet song in late October.
"I don't want us to fail," he had responded truthfully.
By the first day of November, he had all of the songs down to pat.
Except one.
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.
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 seconds! He wouldn't have really cared, except that there was no chance to take a breath any time before.
"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 on messing up for the umpteenth time. It was the last day of October, less than two months before the concert, and he and Tooth were getting a bit of practice done in his guest room(which had actually looked like it was a fancy hotel suite, to his pleasure), and although he had improved on the note, he still wasn't able to hit it right.
"I don't know why I can't get it!" he fumed, standing up from his chair and throwing the paper on to the bed. "I've tried every day, all night! I've done the warm-ups, taken the herbs, drunken the tea, and nothing 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.
"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!"
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 of done that. Or what he did next.
He flew on top of the roof, 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. 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, a look of sadness on her face. She hated how the moon seemed to deliberately avoid shining down on him. 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 wished she could go down there and tell him that she loved him back, 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. "Te amo quoque, Jack," she whispered.
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."
Suddenly, there was a loud crack! Jack glanced over his shoulder, then froze when he saw it.
A Nightmare.
It stood across the lake menacingly, its black sand practically oozing out of it. It didn't move or nay or whinny; it didn't even look like it was breathing.
Baby Tooth curiously peeked out of the cup of Jack's hand, then gasped. "It's okay, Baby Tooth," he whispered to her. "Just stay calm." He could feel his own heart pounding in his chest, though. Would it attack? Or was it just standing there? Maybe it didn't see him yet. They were far enough away so that Jack might be able to have a head start. He carefully put Baby Tooth in his pocket. The Nightmare didn't move. He swallowed, and took a single step back.
Bad choice.
It reared up, and galloped straight towards them. Jack yelled and turned around and flew up. He only made it just past the trees when the Nightmare grabbed his pants leg in its mouth and slammed him back on to the hard ice.
He gasped at the sudden impact, the breath knocked out of him, and didn't feel the Nightmare dragging him backwards until he felt the ice underneath him become snow. Jack scrabbled at the ground as the Nightmare pulled him backwards, deep into the woods, but the snow and whatever grass he was able to pull up came away at his fingers.
"Let me go!" he shouted, twisting his body so that he could kick at the Nightmare. His foot simply passed right through the skeletal horse, which kept on moving. Jack glanced around the forest desperately, looking for something to help him when he saw the bed. It was the same bed that was supposed to have disappeared into the hole where Pitch was taken. It was back!
"No!" he choked, the ice spirit paralyzed by the sudden jolt of fear that ran through him.
Yes…., a sinister voice whispered back.
Jack suddenly felt all feeling come back into his body, and began kicking and fighting again. But it was hopeless.
He flailed his arms, trying to grab anything, when his fingers hit something hard just as his legs entered the hole. He immediately grabbed it, and held on to the tree root with both hands, grunting as he tried to resist the Nightmare dragging him in.
Suddenly, a frightened squeak came from his hoodie pocket. Crap! He had forgotten all about Baby Tooth! Tightening his grip on the root with one hand, he reached in with his other and pulled Baby Tooth out. "Don't tell the others what happened! I'll get out of here soon enough!" he told her as she flew out of his hand.
She shook her head, and pulled insistently at his fingers. "Baby Tooth, go!" he shouted. The root suddenly broke, and he screamed as he was dragged down into the hole. Baby Tooth shrieked, and was about to fly in after him when the hole suddenly closed over. She stared in horror. How was Jack gonna get out now?
Well, I hope you like what I was able to do after two hours work.
Comment please!
