Chapter 6: Half-answers and a broken heart
"Jack!" shouted Tooth as she spotted the young guardian carrying some drinks on a large circular plate.
Jack turned around trying not to spill any glass. North´s house was full of spirits and for a weird reason North had decided he didn´t have enough Yetis to work as waitress and he wasn´t going to let the elves near the silver or glass. At the end Jack had volunteer to help to offer drinks to the guests even though he was happy to have something to get his mind off of Bunny.
"Tooth!" Jack smiled at the fairy that had landed just in front of him. "Enjoying the party?"
Tooth looked down and arranged her feathers. "Sort of, I am kind of lonely. Almost every spirit came here with a date, except with the child spirits of course."
Jack kept his smile on his face even though he felt his heart frowning. "What do you mean by lonely? Where is Bunny?"
Tooth blinked confused. "What has Bunny have to do with anything?"
Jack was about to answer her why she wasn´t with Bunny if the Pooka liked her and she liked him too, but just in that moment the spirits of water, earth and wind (best known as the triplets) and the spirit of innocence made the chocolate fountain fall over them.
"KIDS!" shouted Mother Nature to her kids while the rest of the spirits burst into laughter at the kids that were covered with liquid chocolate.
"I have to help over there Tooth; I will talk with you later."
With that Jack had to flee over the dirty children leaving Tooth alone and confused by Jack´s last comment about Bunny.
.-.-.-..-.-.
Jack was carrying the dirty to the kitchen when somebody, literally, crashed him down. Jack let go two of the triplets that he was carrying under his arms and the other spirits just jumped back to avoid being knocked off too.
"What is wrong with you? Don´t you see where you are walking?" shouted Jack as he rubbed his head. North had warned him that some spirits enjoyed the taste of alcohol and it wouldn´t be weird to see one or two in the middle of the night completely drunk. But still, it was early for anyone to get drunk.
"Sorry mate." Jack recognized that voice immediately and felt his cheeks going from pale to pink. "I was kind in a hurry."
Jack turned to catch up again the dirty children and avoid the Pooka´s eyes but then he noticed that the dirty spirits were already gone. Well, they are kids; they can´t be too harmfull, he thought.
"Is everything all right mate?" asked Bunny as he offered the winter spirit his paw so he could stand up.
"Yeah; I was just in my way to cleaning up some spirits that made a mess of themselves with the chocolate fountain."
Bunny thought about it for a moment. "The triplets?"
"And they got themselves a new playmate." Jack laughed as he thought about the young girl with candies on her hair and the green jacket.
"Damn it; good thing North is a patient man."
Jack laughed even harder making Bunnymund smiled slightly. How he loved that smile.
"So, why such a hurry kangaroo?" asked Jack as he crossed his arms up to his chest and looked down.
"I was looking for someone."
Jack shrugged. "A special person, can I guess?"
Bunny nodded. "A really special one; I need to tell him something."
"A him?" burst out Jack.
Bunny said he was looking for someone that wasn´t a she, it was he. So it was obvious he wasn´t looking for Tooth. He could be searching for North or Sandy but still, he had said he was looking for someone special for him. It meant he was in love with another he. So, where did that leave Tooth? Where did that leave Jack?
Bunny took some steps closer to the spirit of winter and the guardian of fun.
"What does that surprise you?" he asked.
Jack shook his head and tried to swallow some tears that were appearing on the corners of his eyes.
"I thought you and Tooth…" he trailed of but Bunny interrupted him before he could finish the sentence.
"No, she is a good friend but that´s all."
Bunnymund could read the pain on Jack´s eyes but he couldn´t understand why he was upset and he wasn´t brave enough to ask him.
"So who is this new guy?" Bunny was caught by surprise with that question.
Jack wasn´t looking at the Easter Bunny anymore and instead he was looking around the saloon to find any guy that could look interesting to the Pooka. He could be attracted to the spirit of wisdom; the spirit with brown and long hair, almost a head taller than Jack and a lot more mature of him. Or there was the spirit of bravery, a guy with ebony hair and beautiful features, he had the appearance of a man on their late twenties but still, he was handsome and it wouldn´t be a surprise if Bunny was attracted to him. He wouldn´t blame him either, almost half of the spirits were looking to get into the pants of the spirit.
"He is no new." answered Bunny. Jack frowned.
"Stop fooling around kangaroo and tell me!" snapped Jack as he covered his face with his hoodie. Bunnymund chuckled at the face of the teenager.
"I was looking for you."
Tooth was drinking by herself in one of the table of the saloon. A lot of the spirits were dancing in the middle of them room while others were just chatting on the tables about their jobs and old stories.
"Can I sit?" Tooth turned to the voice and the first thing she saw was Aphrodite´s warm smile.
"Sure." the guardian pointed towards the chair that was next to him and the spirit of passion. "What brings you here Aphrodite?"
The blonde girl laughed. "I can´t come and talk to my friend?"
"You know it´s not that but since I became a guardian it looked like you were avoiding me."
Aphrodite took a sip of her glass and turned her green eyes towards the dance floor. That was partially true. She had stopped hanging around with Tooth the moment she was selected as guardian of memories. During that time everyone gossiped behind her back about her being jealous she wasn´t selected as guardian and that was why she had stopped hanging out with the fairy. But the truth was that she wasn´t jealous about Tooth being a guardian and not her; she was jealous because she knew she was going to be so busy with her guardian´s responsibilities and there would be no more time to full around and hang out.
"I didn´t want to disturb you." said the spirit after some seconds of hard thinking.
"What are you saying; I would have been glad to spend time with you."
Aphrodite turned to see Tooth and for a moment she felt guilty. "I thought with that guardian thing you would be busy all the time and…"
"I missed you Aph." interrupted Tooth. "I still miss my best friend."
Aphrodite nodded. "I missed you too crazy fairy."
Tooth laughed and punched her in the arm softly. "Now that everything is settled I think we should start catching up. So start telling me the hottest gossip and don´t forget dirty details."
Aphrodite smiled at the fairy. She had missed that, her white smile, the way her winds would shake every time she got excited, the blush on her cheeks whenever she was embarrassed by some dirty little secret Aphrodite would tell her during their girl talks. So she started talking. She told her about the new break ups and make ups between the spirits. She told about who was in love with whom but that who wouldn't pay attention to him/her because she/he was already in a relationship with another one. Tooth listened to everything without interrupting except for one or two comments now and then between the news. After 10 minutes Aphrodite realized it was time to talk Tooth about Bunny and Jack.
"Do you know Bunnymund?" started the spirit passion and waited to see the fairy´s reaction.
Tooth frowned. Why was everyone so worried about Bunny that night? "Yes, he is a guardian as well, why?"
"Well, it seems Cupid finally shot him with one f his arrows."
"Really? Who?"
Aphrodite sighed. "The guardian of Fun; Jack Frost."
Tooth almost chocked with her drink.
"But Jack…and me…I thought…" she said between coughs. Aphrodite took her by the hand and caressed it softly.
"Cupid made a mistake." she whispered to her friend that seemed about to start crying. "He also hit you with an arrow but something went terribly wrong. "
Tooth shook her head slowly. "So that means that my love will never be corresponded?" she asked in a hurtful whisper. "But the effect can be broken; right?"
Aphrodite nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, but only cupid has the power to break this kind of magic." she explained as she took Tooth´s hands between hers and smiled at her widely. "Do you want me to call him?"
Tooth thought about it for a minute. She was confused. To know all those feelings would never be corresponded it hurt her. She had thought she had a shot with the winter spirit but it seemed destiny hadn´t the young spirit to be part of her future. She managed to give her friend a warm smile and then nodded slowly. "If you don´t mind."
Aphrodite jumped out of her chair and started heading towards the garden where all the children spirits were playing. Before leaving he room she stopped and then returned running just to collapse into Tooth´s arms. She hid her face between her neck as she whispered at her ear.
"I know there is someone out there just waiting for you to look up and find her." Aphrodite bit her bottom lip and then kissed the fairy´s cheek softly. "Think about it."
Please review and tell me what you think it could happen.
