Hi guys. PM's, PM's everywhere.
*dodges bullets and daggers*
Yeah wow, procrastination, what a flaw. Hope you all are doing well. Wish me luck on my gigantic exam tomorrow, and I will silently wish luck to all you fellow 'I've-got-to-take-a-big-fat-exam'-ers out there.
Heads up! Fun mythology fact: Notus, Eurus, Zephyrus, and Boreas are the Four Winds. Aeolus is the king of the winds. Personification of these winds are seen in all types of different stories, including the 'Rise of the Guardians' movie. These are probably the last new characters that will be introduced.
Things get pretty intense in this one, but soon enough, they take a turn for the better...
...right?
"What to wear, what to wear…?"
Tooth was murmuring to herself as she stepped through the doorway of her home, thankful to be able to wear skirts again. The weather was warming up and the snow had gone, but things were still slightly chilly in Burgess.
"Swạsdī," her father called from the couch, flipping through his files.
"Swạsdī kah, Dad," Tooth answered, respectfully greeting him. She stretched her muscles before shutting the door, shrugging off her coat. She put her empty cookie bin in the kitchen sink, glad that Jamie had enjoyed them so much. She had just come back from visiting him at St. Bernarts' Children's Hospital.
Jamie was doing much better these days. He hadn't even had his 'official' treatment yet, but already, the illness was fading and Jamie was growing stronger. The doctors claimed it was a miracle. Jack had been overjoyed as well as his own family.
Tooth wasn't exactly sure, but she wanted to bet that it was because of them. Her, Jack, and all of their friends. Tooth had showed up to see Jamie much more often in the past couple of months, including the rest of her friends.
Everyone loved Jamie and his big brown eyes, full of curiosity. Aside from Jack, Jamie seemed to favor North highly. Each time the large boy visited, he would bring a handmade present for Jamie. The Russian would beam whenever he saw the younger boy playing with his creations. Bunnymund and Sandy had also visited, all of them interacting with Jamie in their own way.
Tooth had just come back from reading stories with Jamie. Halfway through the book, the younger of the two questioned Tooth with his keen observation.
"Are you and Jack…?" he asked with quirked eyebrows, peering at Tooth uncertainly.
Oh! She understood what he meant. Tooth tried her best to hide the shock and embarrassment from her face before answering the small boy. "Um… yeah! Yeah, we are."
Jamie nodded. "Oh, okay. Good!" he chirped before settling back on his bed.
That comment made Tooth quirk an eyebrow of her own, but Jamie had already delved back into the book, trying to tell Tooth about which character he thought was going to get the happy ending.
Jack hadn't accompanied her for that visit. It was Sunday, and he was too busy helping his uncle prepare the house for the Easter family reunion. Tooth smiled, thinking of how hard they both must be working. The old man was surely cooking something and Jack was probably doing all the manual labor, easing his elder's burdens.
Tooth broke out of her thoughts and continued through the house to her room, throwing her coat aside. What would she wear? This was a family reunion she was going to, so whatever she decided on wearing had to be presentable… at least, that's what Tooth believed.
Tooth climbed out of her clothes and drifted over to her closet, looking for something nice to wear. It couldn't be too revealing – that might leave a bad impression. Then again, she didn't want to look too conservative either. She wasn't a nun or anything.
As she fumbled through the pile of clothes that she had decided to form the outfit from, her father barged into the room.
"DAD," she yelped, "KNOCKING. IT EXISTS."
"Oops. Sorry, Sweetie!" Haroom swiftly closed the door and knocked.
Tooth gave a breathless laugh at his silliness before tossing on her outfit.
"Okay. You can come in."
Haroom tiptoed into her room like it was full of landmines; his face wore an exaggerated expression of fear. "Is the coast clear? Is my lovely daughter still acting like a nudist or is she wearing clothes like the rest of us?"
Tooth giggled hysterically before answering him. "It's your fault for not knocking first!"
He held up his hands in surrender before continuing on. "How did the visit with your little friend at the hospital go?"
Tooth smiled. "Great! He's been recovering well. He might not even need any of the serious operations that the doctors were planning."
"And his teeth? Your baking is going to ruin them."
Tooth laughed. "He'll be fine."
Haroom strode over and sat on her bed, twiddling his fingers. "I've been meaning to ask something. Are you… I know you've been hanging out with that 'Jack' boy lately. He took you to the dance. Is there anything that you might want to tell me? You can tell me anything, you know."
Tooth froze.
Should she? Should she tell him about Jack? He probably already suspected something was going on. He might get mad at her, but she couldn't lie to him.
"We're dating now." Her words came out quiet and shy. She didn't realize how hard that would be to say to him.
Haroom closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Tooth braced herself for the scolding. She knew he was doing it because he cared. "How long has it been?"
"Just a few days, Dad."
"Have I met him before?"
"Once. That day when he came to drop off the dentist's journal, remember?"
"Hm. I don't recall that too well. I want to meet him again."
"Oh! Okay."
"Has he ever been in the house when I wasn't home?"
"N-Never!"
"You've been to his house before, right?"
"...Sometimes."
"Is there an adult there to watch the two of you?"
"Yes, his uncle. He's elderly, but he's really nice."
"Alright. Do your friends know this boy?"
"Of course! Sandy, North, and Bunnymund all know him!"
"He doesn't pressure you to do anything you don't want to do?"
"Dad..."
"Just answer the question, Toothie."
"No, he doesn't. He's really nice to me."
"He treats you well?"
"Yes."
Haroom sighed once more, flopping back onto Tooth's bed. "Alright then, interrogation over. My job as a parent is done." He cracked Tooth an easygoing smile and she laughed heartily.
"Dad, I thought you were being serious –"
"I was! But now that's over. Interrogating you really wore me out. You should cook something for your Dad, Toothie."
Tooth shook her head, smiling. She leapt off the bed and began opening her drawers, searching for a good pair of socks. "No. I have a party to go to and you're just being lazy."
Her dad made a show of flopping around on her bed and groaning in pain. "But I'm so hungy. Make me seafood stew, hon!"
"Dad! That'll take way too long. I'll be late to the reunion."
"Then… make me stir fry, or something. C'mon, your poppa is starving and you're going to leave him like this? Skin and bones?! My oh my, I never thought I'd see the day my daughter left me to the dogs." Haroom made a show of shouting in pain.
Tooth sighed, leaving the drawers and making her way for the kitchen. "Fine! I'll make you pad pak ruam, but you're cooking tomorrow!"
Haroom grinned widely.
Boyfriend or not, his Toothiana loved him. She wasn't going anywhere.
Tooth was surprised to see Jack in front of the woods as she neared Selene road. She didn't need him to show her the path to his house, she could remember. And the snow had melted, so it wasn't like she was going to get stuck in any more snow drifts or anything.
Still, she was happy to see him. She waved eagerly, smiling at him.
He grinned back, grasping her hand as she got close. Tooth had to stop herself from squealing. She was never going to get used to that!
They strode through the woods together, sharing pleasantries. Tooth told him the story of her father's questioning from earlier that day. Jack chuckled.
"So, am I in trouble, or what?" he teased. Tooth shook her head.
"You know, I thought we'd be in trouble. He was never okay with the idea of me dating before. I think it scares him. He doesn't want me to leave, either. Mom leaving was enough for him."
Jack paused, slowing down his steps. "Wait, what?"
Tooth stopped with him, her boots crunching the woodchips on the forest floor. "What's wrong?"
"Your mom left you?"
Tooth's eyes widened. "Oh, no! It's not what you think. She's in the military, the air force. She was deployed for a while, but she's coming back in a few months. I…I never told you?"
"No," Jack said quietly.
How much was he ignorant of about Tooth's life? He had never really heard her speak of her mother, only her father. The idea had almost escaped him! Why hadn't he noticed before? He thought before speaking.
"That's strange. Usually, you hear of fathers in the military, not mothers. You must miss her."
Tooth felt her throat close up momentarily, eyes suddenly burning. "A little, yeah." She turned away and continued walking. Jack caught up with her.
"Only 'a little'?" Jack questioned, trying to peer into her face.
"Jack, please." Tooth found the words bursting out of her before she could even think. She didn't want to go there right now. Her tone stopped him in his tracks and Jack shut his mouth. She sounded desperate, like she was about to break. "I don't want to talk about it."
Jack stopped.
Wait…Tooth didn't want to talk about something? But she loved to talk! She never put up a wall between them like this. She was always ready to talk about almost anything. She was the advocate of 'if you talk about it, you'll feel better'. She was the one who had practically dragged Jack's secrets out of him, the one who had spent long nights just talking on the phone with him. While he was the silent one, she filled up the silence with words.
Now? The silence was deafening.
Jack didn't know what to do. As she moved past him and up ahead on the path, he thought about what she would do. She would question and pry, she would use gentle words to open him up and expose him, that's what Tooth would do, but…
…Jack wasn't Tooth.
He kept his silence and filed away the moment for later, moving alongside her and drooping an arm around her. She leaned into the crook of his neck, closing her eyes, but not slowing her pace.
"Tell me more about your dad," Jack insisted. He would leave the topic of her mother behind. He gave a silent sigh of relief as she launched back into 'talk' mode.
"Oh! Well, even though today was his turn to cook, he started guilt-tripping me into making him lunch, so I made him 'pad pak ruam' and rice as payback, since he was craving meat earlier."
Jack was utterly confused. "Pod-park-whatsit?" He questioned curiously. He had never heard that word before.
"Oh, sorry! It's stir fried vegetables. Lots of people eat it in Thailand."
"Oh. Is your dad from there?"
"Yep! He came over here to the states when he was a little older than us." Tooth squeezed two fingers together to demonstrate the puny amount.
"That's funny. My dad and my uncles were born in different places too."
"Really? Where?"
"Different places. My family is pretty big. Norway, Greenland, Denmark. All over the place I guess."
Tooth perked up. Wow! "Do you speak any of those languages?"
Jack laughed. "No way! Only English."
"Oh," Tooth chirped, leaning back into him.
Jack glanced over at her. "Do…do you speak any different languages?"
"A few. I speak pretty good Thai thanks to my dad. I used to be great at Hindi, but I forgot a lot of words ever since Mom left. She was the one that taught me. I can still hold up a conversation, though! And then in school, I'm learning French and Spanish. I thought I was bad at them because I always screw up little things like the accent or conjunctions, but the teachers said I was great at them! Nearly fluent. They put me in super advanced classes. I know quite a bit of sign language for Sandy, since he gets tired of writing sometimes. I can say a few Russian words thanks to North. That's about it. I'd say… I know four languages fluently, and two languages semi-fluently."
Jack's jaw hit the floor. Man! And he had thought he was clever. Who knew he would've landed a girl like this.
He decided to tease her. He made his voice girlish and shrill. "Oh, look at me! I'm so cultured, I know five billion languages!"
Tooth giggled and pushed him away. "Quit it! You're just jealous," she teased back.
"Oh yeah, real jealous. I wish I could talk to the president of Mexico and the glorious Shiva at the same time." He fluttered his eyelashes at her and Tooth couldn't stop the laughs bubbling out of her.
"Whatever. Who's coming to the reunion anyway?"
Jack's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah! My family's kind of big so Uncle only invited… well, my other uncles. And my parents."
Tooth's brow quirked. Jack had more uncles?
Jack strolled beside her, counting on his fingers. "Let's see… there's Aeolus, the second oldest to Uncle Moon. He likes to be in charge of everything. Then there's Uncle Boreas. He lives up North in the old country. Uncle Eurus is from the East, I think. Uncle Notus is from the South and Uncle Zephyrus is from the West."
"What are they like?" Tooth questioned.
"Hm…Aeolus is like, the leader for everyone else. Asides from Moon, at least. Boreas is a cranky guy. He makes good food, though. Eurus is cool. Zephyrus is the nicest I'd say. I'm pretty sure he's gay, though."
Tooth nodded absently. So many men!
"Aren't they married? Do they have children?" she questioned. Tooth wanted to know if they'd be seeing any other kids their age at the reunion.
Jack shrugged. "Probably. They might have left their wives at home. The only girls that'll be there are you and my mom."
Tooth gulped.
Jack looked over, smirking. "Don't worry. Before everything went to the dogs, Mom was really nice. She'll like you."
Tooth nodded, even though she didn't agree. She couldn't explain the sudden uneasy feeling, but it felt like something bad was going to happen tonight.
Soon enough, they approached the house. They were greeted by several large Nordic-looking men. Tooth was surprised to see the six men sitting on the front porch, smoking and laughing and playing card games. All of them were bearded, but only one had white hair, whereas the rest were gray.
"Jack! Jack-o!" A large gray-haired one shouted, waving them down.
"Is that one next to you your lass?" Another smaller gray-haired man called out.
"Come nephew, the wind bites at us. These cigars won't keep us warm for long!" One laughed, the end of his cigar falling off.
Jack grinned at them all as Tooth drew near him. She was so surprised! These men were so large, so happy, so… rowdy!
"Hey guys," Jack answered calmly, grinning at the uncles. His voice quieted, turning shy. "Hi, Dad."
Tooth scanned the crowd looking for the 'Dad' Jack was addressing. The man with white hair on the very end of the the porch lowered his cigar. He beamed at Jack, a mirror image of the man Tooth had seen in Jack's photographs.
His father.
The man simply nodded, his snowy hair gleaming. His beard was boxed and full, unlike the other men on the porch who possessed much sharper beards. He was quieter than the rest, relaxing in his chair. Jack's uncles seemed to always be moving, almost as if they couldn't sit still. His father remained motionless.
"Where's Uncle Moon?" Jack asked.
"In the kitchen, with your mother. They're putting the finishing touches on the food," Notus answered smoothly while shuffling his deck of cards.
"Ey', don't be rude! Introduce us to your cute friend! I'm sure your father wants to meet her," Zephyrus giggled past his cigar.
He laid down a hand of cards, causing Boreas to jump up and shout in anger.
"You cheating cur!" The larger man cried.
"Fair and square!" Zephyrus called out, beaming.
"Dad," Jack began, placing his hand on Tooth's lower back and pushing her forward, "This is Toothiana. She's the one I wrote to you about."
Tooth smiled shyly, raising a greeting hand. "Hi," she murmured. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Overland."
Jack's father stared down at her from the porch for a minute. Tooth shivered. It felt so odd to be looking at Jack's eyes in another's face! This man was much bulkier and harsher than Jack's boyish features.
Mr. Overland finally nodded, as if he approved of something. He shot Tooth the smallest of smiles before turning back to the card game.
Jack and Tooth maneuvered around the group of uncles and went inside.
"Who's ready to eat?" Uncle Moon called from the kitchen, his voice bouncing off the walls.
Tooth nearly fell over at the thundering sounds erupting from the porch. Five men shot past her, blowing her hair in all directions. They whooped and shouted and laughed, crowding into the dining room. Jack followed them, laughing and grinning.
Tooth stood frozen in the hall with her hair askew. Were they ALWAYS like that?
Slow footsteps sounded behind her, coming near. The smells of winter and tobacco overtook Tooth's nasal passages as Jack's father passed by her, pausing for a moment. The large man looked down at her, chewing on his cigar.
"… They're always like that." He admitted in a deep, tired voice, before disappearing into the dining room.
Tooth had been sweating throughout the entire dinner.
Ever since she sat down at the table, Jack's mother had been staring holes into her.
Tooth didn't know what she had done wrong! She made sure to greet the woman as nicely as possible before greeting Uncle Moon. She was wearing an appropriate outfit. She had been kind to the Uncles and used table manners and everything! She didn't understand.
Tooth risked a glance up, gazing at the brunette across the table from her. The older woman's brown eyes locked onto Tooth, her expression revealing nothing.
Tooth's fingers fidgeted under the table as the older woman stared on. She tried to silently get Jack's attention by glancing over to catch his eye, but Jack was laughing too hard at something one of his uncles said. Every time Tooth looked at Jack and glanced back at his mother, the older woman's expression hardened. Tooth quickly gave up and shot her eyes back into her lap.
Well. This sucked.
The night wore on and the food slowly disappeared from the table. All of the men were telling stories and jokes, Aeolus breaking out into song once in a while. They were loud and rowdy and boisterous. Jack's mother ate steadily, but flitted her gaze back to Tooth every once in a while. Tooth couldn't tell what the woman was thinking. It was highly unnerving.
Her phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket and Tooth quickly grabbed it, turning it on to see what the alert was. A reminder for a quiz tomorrow, probably. Wait a minute… no, not a reminder. A text. Tooth's brows quirked. A text from Dad! What did he need now?
Tooth stopped moving as her eyes flitted over the text.
All of the air in the room escaped her.
The text on her phone was short, simple, and clear, from her father;
"I know you're at the reunion but when it ends come straight home. It's your mother. She's missing."
Tooth's moving fingers turned into blurs she texted back discreetly under the table.
"What do you mean she's missing? Like, they can't find her at all?"
The reply was just as fast.
"Yes. Her entire unit is missing. The officers in charge of communications just came to the house. Like I said before, come straight home afterwards."
Tooth tucked her phone away, her eyes completely blank. Her thoughts were racing so fast, it felt as if she had nothing in her mind. Her throat closed up harshly and her chest began to feel tight. Her nostrils burned and her temples throbbed as she felt the tear ducts working overtime to keep the water behind her eyelids at bay. She blinked many times, pushing the tears back and forcing herself to sit straighter.
"Hey there! You alright, lass? Is it the borscht? I told Boreas not to give it to you, he makes it so damn spicy. Is it your tongue? Does your mouth hurt?"
Tooth nodded vaguely, unsure of who was speaking to her and not really caring. "Y-yeah, it's really spicy," she lied, struggling to make it look as if it were her mouth hurting instead of her insides.
"I can tell," a man called from across the table, "your eyes are all red! Here, let me take that," Tooth could hear the bowl being pulled away from her, but didn't look at anything or anyone, she just stared at the wall straight ahead. She couldn't risk it. She was fighting so hard to keep from screaming out, to keep from sobbing or smashing something. Her hands fidgeted and she had to fling her fists into her lap, scrunching up her dress in a tight grasp.
She. Would. Not. Cry.
"Give her the lutfisk I made! She'll love it," someone shouted from one side, moving plates and cups.
"No! Take this instead," another man interjected, placing something else in front of her. "It's lapskaus! It'll fill you right up and it won't scorch your tongue, I promise,"
Everyone here was oblivious. Tooth nodded again, feeling awful.
She didn't want to ruin this for Jack. She didn't want to make things dramatic or hurt anyone's feelings, and so she began shoving in spoonfuls of whatever was in front of her into her mouth, fighting tears. Everyone seemed to relax at this and continued their conversations, but she could still feel someone's eyes on her.
Jack.
He was staring at her intently from across the table, suspicion and concern flashing through his gaze. He seemed to realize something was off. Tooth looked away, unable to bear the icy stare of him or the rest of his strange family.
Her hand trembled ever so slightly and she shoveled in the food, her insides tightening and aching at the intrusions. Her body didn't want to eat, it wanted to stamp its feet and shout out loud and cry for days and days and days. Tooth couldn't allow that, though! She wasn't in her home. She was sitting at someone else's table as a guest in this home. These people had come across oceans just for tonight, and she wouldn't ruin it for them or Jack, no matter how much her body begged her to.
She lowered the spoon as a pain sparked in her gut, and she pushed away from the table.
"Excuse me, I'm going to the bathroom," she murmured, leaving quickly before anyone could ask. She walked speedily out of the dining room, waiting until she far enough in the hall of the large house to run without anyone hearing her footfalls. She ran down the wooden floorboards and up the flights of stairs, looking desperately for a bathroom.
'Stop crying.'
Bile rose in her throat and the tears were already beginning to fall, but she could feel something larger coming on. Her body was erupting on her! She couldn't believe her body was betraying her like this, fighting to put her heart on her sleeve, all of her feelings bubbling up through the cracks of her perfect mask. All of it was threatening to overflow and drown her.
'She might be okay, you don't know yet.'
When Tooth finally found the bathroom, her knees hit the tiled floor. Her breath came in short gasps as the feeling of nausea slowly left her and was replaced by something heavier than she had ever felt in her life. Never had she known grief could be this terrible, this violent, this DEEP.
'She's fine, you'll see. She's coming home.'
She flung her hands over her face and softly sobbed, biting down to stop the ugly sounds coming from her mouth and failing. The whimpers echoed around the bathroom, bouncing back to her.
'She's coming home.'
She rocked her body slowly, releasing some of the pain in Jack's small bathroom. Tooth didn't feel very relieved! The ache in her heart turned into an ache in her head, stabbing down on her. She felt disoriented, sick, unsure of where to go or what to do.
'She's coming ho-'
"She promised," Tooth wheezed out into her palms, stifling the sounds. "She promised me, she promised…"
Tooth couldn't go back down there into the dining room. She just couldn't face his family looking like this. Her makeup was ruined, running down her face in wet, smudged trails. Her voice was unsteady and raspy, evidence from the muffled sobbing that she had done. Tooth tried standing and ignored the way her legs trembled as she made her way to the bathroom mirror and rubbed at the makeup, removing the splotches.
There. All better. No stray makeup. Perfect.
Just perfect.
A small knock sounded at the door, causing Tooth to jump. She hadn't heard anyone moving outside of the door. Tooth padded over and opened the door to see the frowning face of Uncle Moon. His sharp eyes peered out at her past the wrinkles, sympathy in them.
"May I come in?" he asked quietly.
Tooth nodded, allowing him inside the small space and watching him close the door. If it had been any other old man enclosing her in like this, she would've screamed for help and kicked his nethers, but this was Uncle Moon. He wasn't like that, and his presence calmed her immensely.
She stood before him, eyes lowered. What could she do? What could she say? 'Oh, yeah, sorry for interrupting dinner and almost puking on your bathroom floor and completely losing it while getting mascara stains on your towels and the sink!'
Nope. Not happening.
Uncle Moon tapped his cane a little before patting Tooth on the shoulder. "You are hurting, Toothiana, I can see that. You look more like a storm then a sun right now, little summer."
Tooth shook her head, unwilling to talk about anything at the moment. She felt like lashing out. This pain, this rage, it had to go somewhere. When she opened her mouth, venom came out.
"My name isn't 'Summer', Mr. Moon. And yes, I'm hurting." She crossed her arms, her eyes tracing the floor tiles. "I don't know what to do," she whispered, the bite in her voice fading.
He chuckled, making her head snap up. He wasn't mad? "That's 'Uncle' Moon, child. And of course you know what to do! You're a smart girl. Confide in someone. Jack worried when you left so quickly, and so I came to find you. It should be my nephew that you confide in, but you may confide in me if you wish."
"My mother," Tooth found herself blurting out, "she's in the Air Force, but they can't find her. Her entire team is just…gone. They don't know where she is. I'm so scared, Uncle Moon! How did they lose her? Is she lost somewhere in the wilderness or something? Is she stuck under something, like a fallen tree or a rock and just can't reach camp? Is she being held hostage? Is she unconscious? Is she dea- Is she d-d-d-" Tooth was surprised at the struggle that came with saying the word. She couldn't say it. She didn't want to.
Uncle Moon stepped in for her, silencing her with a finger. "Don't think of things like that," he commanded. "Calm down, Toothiana. Your mother is fine. Have patience."
Tooth glared at him, shocking herself at the audacity. This was Uncle Moon that she was glaring at! The kind, sweet, old man that had been there for her and Jack countless times without asking for anything in return. She quickly removed the angry look, but the feelings of disbelief still remained.
"You don't know that!" she said, irritation lacing her voice. "You don't have a GPS tracker on her, you don't have a military map leading to her location. You don't even know who my mom is. I'm not five, you don't have to make this a joke or a riddle, it's fine. I get it. Bad things happen to good people."
Uncle Moon looked highly offended. "Now, I know you were raised better than to snap at your elders, Toothiana. And a joke...? Dear girl, I was far from joking. Do you honestly think I would do that to you and make light of this situation? I insist that your mother isn't in any trouble. Danger, yes. Injured, yes. But she is alive and healthy and strong, she will find her way home. It is the way of all free spirits! Your mother is one. So is Jack."
Tooth pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Please, Uncle Moon, stop. Where are you getting all of this from? You don't have proof."
"I don't need proof," Uncle Moon huffed in irritation. "The stars told me so. They never lie."
Tooth was taken aback. The stars? Was this guy for real? Maybe he had an old-person medication that he had forgotten to take earlier. Maybe he had bumped his head the night before. Maybe Boreas's borscht had affected his brain. Whatever it was, it was making him say strange things.
"I know you don't believe me, but I hope you trust in me enough as an authority figure to take my words to heart. Your mother is alive and breathing."
Tooth decided to entertain him momentarily. She still wasn't ready to return to the dining room and so she decided to kill time. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry for being rude, Uncle Moon. Really, I am! But... let's pretend that the stars did tell you this. How? Why you? I'm sure they have better things to do." She found her voice catching a nasty bite and slowed down, feeling guilty again. "I-I'm sorry for saying that-"
"No, you're right to question me, I am old and slightly disabled. You must think I'm demented," he looked at her in all seriousness, "I am not, Toothiana. I have been around much longer than you think, and I have seen enough things in this world. Throughout my life, I have used the folklore and the legends of my family to guide me and never once have they failed me. The stars told me of Jack before he was born. Said he would need me when the time came. According to what my elders told me and what their elders told them, the answers are all there in the sky. All I simply have to do is look up."
Tooth fought back a smile. "So you're saying that you're a wizard, Uncle Moon? That the Overlands are some sort of mystic family?"
"Oh don't be ridiculous Toothiana, I'm a simple old man. We are a simple family. I just 'see' better than others. My brothers and sisters were the only others in the family that could 'see' as well as me, but most of them have passed. The only one left is my youngest brother, Jack's father. He has the sight, but it rarely comes to him. He's too far from the old ways, or in other words… he's too young. The younger ones in the family are all sightless. I am the last one of the generation from before. I will be the last to pass, the last to truly 'see'."
Tooth frowned.
She didn't understand all of this 'seeing' business, but Uncle Moon had just said something pretty intense. "Don't say things like that, Uncle Moon. You're not that old. You've still got a lot of living to do!"
Uncle Moon smiled at her. "You're too kind. I suppose you're right. Now, let's return to the table, shall we? The others will be wondering where we went. You will confide in Jack?"
Tooth smiled and nodded, feeling one thousand times lighter than before. Something about Uncle Moon made her want to believe him. Maybe it was the way he said it or how serious he had seemed in his strange words. Whatever the case, she felt much more hopeful now; her mother was alive. Missing, but alive.
She would certainly tell Jack of what had happened and raced back down the stairs to keep up appearances, easily forgetting about the old man who didn't follow after her.
Uncle Moon watched her go before quiet enveloped the hallway. He sighed and walked to the hallway window, lifting it open. Wind burst in through the hall, lightly carrying in leaves and the smell of pine. The stars shone down brightly upon him and he removed his spectacles, letting their astronomical glow reflect off of his irises. He found a smirk drawing itself up on his face and winked at the stars, silently thanking them for helping him and his ancestors for all of these years.
The stars winked back. They always did, for Moon.
When Tooth returned, things were tense at the table. She wasn't sure what had happened or what had been said while she was gone, but the air around her felt uneasy as she sat back down. Jack was looking at his plate, his food untouched. His mother looked irritated and everyone else looked uncomfortable.
As Tooth sat down, Uncle Aeolus smiled, leaping on the chance to break the ice around the table.
"Jack tells us you're both juniors in high school. So you two go to school together? Is that how you and Jack met?"
Tooth smiled, sitting up. "Yes, we have a lot of classes together! We didn't speak much in the beginning of the year, though."
Aeolus nodded, grinning widely. "Ah, so Jack's only just started chasing skirts. He's a late bloomer, I suppose. I remember when I was a boy, I was hounding the girls left and right-"
"He shouldn't be chasing any skirts."
The table silenced as Jack's mother, Helena, broke in. She lowered her eyes, frowning, before raising them back up. She locked gazes with her son across the table.
"If anything, he should be focusing on schoolwork. We didn't send him here so that he could chase after girls." She gave Uncle Moon a disapproving look and Tooth a skeptical glance.
Tooth found her palms growing warm. She didn't like Helena's tone.
"Jack does well in school. He's one of the brightest boys I know," Tooth found herself saying. She couldn't look his mother in the eyes, but the words kept slipping past her lips.
The air around the room grew tight as all the men glanced between Helena and Tooth. The older woman was boring holes into the younger girl, who was keeping her eyes glued to her lap.
Tooth closed her eyes, breathing softly.
Helena probably didn't know much of what was going on with her son these days, did she? Tooth guessed that they argued on every phone call over Emma or over the car accident, so when was the last time Jack's mother learned anything about what was going on in his life? Tooth found her tongue betraying her again.
"But you wouldn't know that, would you? You're never here for him."
Someone inhaled sharply, but Tooth couldn't tell who.
"Uh oh," Notus murmured.
"Here it comes!" whispered Eurus.
"Oh? And you have been?" Helena challenged, setting down her fork harshly. Jack's father reached over to lay a calming hand on her arm, but she ignored it. "Girls can't replace women. Girlfriends can't replace mothers. You have no clue what goes on in my family, so don't pretend to understand because you don't."
Tooth set down her own utensils, albeit softer than Helena had, lifting her gaze. Helena's eyes were stormy, but Tooth could feel the heat behind her own eyes as well. How could she say that? Tooth wasn't trying to replace anyone.
"I understand a lot more about this family than you'd think."
She instantly regretted the words as the older woman's eyes turned suspicious.
"Is that right? And I'm guessing Jack told you everything?" she looked almost sad, glancing at her son.
Jack opened his mouth, but Aeolus broke in.
"Now Helena, why don't we all just relax and eat a little more. Um –" the man looked around, needing a way to break the intense argument – "Brother Moon! Tell me about that new investment you put down for-"
Tooth broke in once again. She wasn't done just yet.
"I don't think you're making the right choices, Mrs. Overland. I don't think you're being fair to Jack. It was an accident."
Helena stood up at her seat, angered. "And you're a teenager. Do you have children? Do you have a family to take care of? Put yourself in my position before you judge me. There's a reason we sent him away-"
"You mean the reason you sent him away? Mr. Overland never liked the idea, did he?"
Jack broke in, angry himself. "I'm not gone. I'm still in the room. You guys don't have to act as if I'm not here."
His voice was ice and Tooth shivered.
Oh, yeah… she had been rude, hadn't she? Talking back to his mom like this in front of the family as well as ignoring him.
Helena was seeing red. Who was this girl that she had just met? This girl that seemed to know all about them and acted as if she did? Where did she fit in Jack's life, the life that Helena hadn't been a part of for nearly a year? She couldn't stand it.
It was so hard the past few months; Emma's hospital bills, Jack's school fees, the hospital bills of the boys that Jack had beaten. It was all piling up on her. Her flower shop and her husband's woodworking were barely enough to cover everything! Of course Mr. Overland hadn't liked the idea of sending his only boy away, but if they hadn't, there would have been more trouble for Jack at school and more damage expenses to pay. At that rate, they would have sunk under.
Past all of her hard exterior, Helena felt torn up inside when she sent Jack to Burgess. Her husband knew it, which was why he didn't push her and went along with it. It was for the best, wasn't it? Jack wouldn't be bullied in Burgess if no one knew about what had happened. He'd make friends and get away from the chaos. Emma would have time to recover.
She did what was best, hadn't she? Helena ignored the trickle of doubt in the back of her mind.
Now, here was some girl passing judgment on her as if Helena didn't care about her own children, her own son?
Her voice came out hard and sharp, like a kitchen knife. The razor was aimed straight at Tooth.
"Are you really going to stand there and belittle me for what I thought was best for my family? Are you going to give me a 'bad grade' for my parenting? Well guess what? Life is hard, and parenting is even harder. I had to make tough decisions, even when they hurt me. That's what mothers do, but you wouldn't know that because you're just a girl. You don't have to face what I face. Jack made a mistake, he has to pay the price."
"What mistake? What price? You think he doesn't know what he did? He thinks about it every day, I can see it every time I look at him. It was an accident-" Tooth shouted in desperation, losing her footing in the heated debate.
"An accident that landed his sister in the hospital! An accident that almost made her lose her ability to walk or think! Do you even know what hypothermia does to the body, much less a little girl? He doesn't have to see her hooked up like that. I do."
Jack looked like he was suffocating, his gaze faced towards the floor.
His father stood up and moved over to him while the rest of the uncles sat back in shock, unsure what to do.
They had all heard of the accident when Emma was hospitalized. Word spread fast in the family.
Still, they didn't blame Jack. They all believed him, even though it was a little harder for his parents considering that they had police and reporters telling them otherwise. They knew how hard it must have been for Helena and their brother, and so they had planned on not saying anything about Emma or the accident at the reunion. They weren't going to question why she wasn't there, knowing that she was in the hospital. They weren't going to ask Jack or Helena about it. They didn't want to cause trouble.
Despite their best efforts, everything had backfired in their faces.
"He wants to see her, he wants to apologize, I know he does. Why won't you let him? He needs you the most now, but you're not here for him. Don't you love him?" Tooth felt the fury in her belly igniting her words.
Was she still speaking to Helena? Or was she addressing someone else…?
"When your child needs you-"
I want to be with you and your father Tooth, I do. But I made a promise to the country…
"-it's your job as a parent to be there, right? It's not fair to leave your kid-"
I'm coming back soon…
"-when they need you, right?"
I'll be home soon…
"Why would you ever leave in the first place?! Don't you love your kids?"
Helena looked genuinely shocked.
"O-Of course I love Jack! He's my first born, my son. I've always loved him." She looked at Jack wistfully. His father stood by his side, a large hand placed on Jack's shoulder. "You know I love you, Jack, don't you?"
When he hesitated, Helena felt an ache within her.
Didn't he know? Of course she loved him, she had told him- well, she had told him…
…Wait. When had the last time been that she told him those three small words? As Helena flew through her memories, she could only recall tearful confrontations and fights over the phone.
She had been so mad the first time she had seen Emma laying in that hospital bed. She had been so mad when she saw her child hurting. In the beginning, when the police and the reporters were dogging her, she had honestly thought that Jack had hurt his sister on purpose. Helena couldn't contain her anger, her pain at the thought of that.
She had taken it out on him. All the stress and the heartache and the problems, she had spit it all back into her son's face every single time she had called Jack to remind him of it, to make him feel bad about it.
A word of affection hadn't left her lips towards her son in the last few months. It had all been venom.
She repeated the question.
"Jackson Overland Frost: you know I love you, don't you?"
Jack looked uncertain.
"I know you do. It's just… hard to tell sometimes. You've been really...disappointed in me."
Mrs. Overland wanted to facepalm herself. When was the last time she had told him…?!
"Oh, Jack…"
She made her way around the table and threw her arms around him, holding him close. At first, he stiffened, feeling highly uncomfortable. She hadn't laid a hand on him in ages. Slowly, he relaxed into her and let her grip him.
She smelled like home.
Aeolus, Boreas, Eurus, Notus, and Zephyrus all laughed at Jack's discomfort in his mother's tight embrace, smiling upon the scene. Mr. Overland gave a small grin and joined the embrace, throwing his large arms around his wife and son. The laughs of his brothers echoed throughout the dining room. This was how things should be.
Helena was whispering to Jack, clutching onto him desperately. The anger and stress had clouded her thoughts so much, she hadn't realized how much she missed her son. Apologies and promises were mixed into the words that she breathed into the air.
"I'm sorry, dear, I'm so sorry. Come back home, Emma's getting better, don't worry. She misses you, too. Come home."
Helena rubbed her cheek in her son's snowy white hair, gazing at her brothers-in-law cracking jokes and eating. Uncle Moon tore his eyes away from the scene and gazed around. "Where is Toothiana?"
Wait a minute. Where was the girl?
They all glanced at her chair, which stood empty among the dining room.
She had left.
She was gone.
Tooth stumbled out the front door, breathing hard. She sat down heavily on the porch, covering her head.
She had royally screwed up.
Her breathing hitched as her brain went into 'over-analyze' mode.
Not only had she bad-mouthed Jack's mother in front of his entire family, she had forced Moon to leave the table and console her, she had made Jack worry, she had made her father worry, she had made a bad impression, there was no way she could fix this, she couldn't turn back the clock, she couldn't douse the flames, she couldn't fix the evening, she couldn't bring her mom back, and even though she had witnessed her boyfriend's moment of glory, even though she had witnessed him reuniting with his parents and becoming forgiven, she just couldn't force another smile onto her face, she couldn't pretend to be happy for him because she wasn't happy at all.
Tooth felt heavy and bare, like a rusty old weight. She felt shame and regret burning hot across her back, she felt anger at herself bubbling in her gut, Tooth felt like dying.
She didn't hear the heels clicking onto the porch…
…but she did feel the warm hand on her back.
Tooth stiffened, a bit unsure of who was there. She didn't want to look up from the ground, she didn't want to show her disorder, her mess.
The hand rubbed small circles on her back anyway.
"I was afraid to meet you, at first. I didn't want to like you."A female voice. Helena.
Tooth turned her head away, but she didn't move away from the soft hand that continued to stroke her back, her hair. She didn't blame the older woman. Tooth hardly liked herself right now. Helena went on anyways, gazing out at ther woods.
"When Moon had told me that Jack had a girlfriend, I didn't know what to think. In a way, it was a bit of a wake up call." She paused. "He's not going to stop growing up, is he? Even if I'm not there for a little while, I'm still missing so much."
Helena moved her fingers up to Tooth's scalp, softly brushing it. "You made me angry. You made me spit-fire mad earlier, I won't lie. But I'm a little glad you did it, now. I'm thirty-eight. Too old to hold grudges." Helena laughed wearily.
Tooth couldn't help but smile a little.
"What I'm trying to say is, I'm glad you were there for him when I couldn't be. He seems…" Helena struggled to find the words, "…happier. Much happier. It's strange how brightly he smiles now. He never used to smile like that before."
Tooth turned towards the older woman and smirked, locking eyes with her. "He's always been able to smile like that. He just needed someone to show him how."
Helena gave her a funny look. "You made him happy in dark times. I didn't want to like you at first…"
The woman reached out and rubbed Tooth's arm, the way Rashmi used to do it.
"…but you're a tough person to dislike."
Tooth beamed and Helena beamed back. She suddenly opened her arms out wide and awkwardly. This wasn't her child and so it felt strange to initiate intimacy, but Moon told her of the girl's distress over her mother mother. He had told Helena right before she stepped out on the porch. Such a shame.
Still, Moon had said the mother was alright, just that the child just needed reassurance. Helena could be that reassurance.
The older woman gave a soft sigh as Tooth leaned into her embrace, hiding her face in Helena's brown curls. The older woman wrapped her long regal fingers around the girls neck, holding her close and ignoring the trembles, the hitched sobs. This wasn't so terrible.
Helena wouldn't mind being a substitute for the real thing.
When Tooth had told her father that her mother was 'alive and well' (based on Uncle Moon's strange predictions), Haroom didn't know how to respond. He decided to let others respond for him.
The communications officer claimed that the girl was in denial.
The school counselor suggested it was her way of 'coping with the tragedy'.
The doctor considered a strong anti-depressant medication.
Still, Tooth insisted that her mother was 'alive and well'. In just a week's time, the communications officer had called her home again, bearing the news for her and her father.
Rashmi's entire team had been found along a coastline- dirty, aching, and injured- but okay.
Rashmi was with them.
Alive and well.