Title: Baby

Rating: K+

Characters (besides Jack): all the guardians, lots of Tooth

Genre: Family/Friendship

Summary: Jack was the last. Jack would always be the last. MiM told them so.

Followers (as of this chapter): 381

Favorites (as of this chapter): 287

It had been a few days after Jack confessed his singular knowledge on trouble that Tooth began to ponder his situation. He had been alone for three centuries and it did some damage to him. He was attention starved. Tooth began to notice how long he held on to her hugs after Sandy proposed his belief for Jack's enjoyment of physical contact. It had been such a long time since someone could touch him, such a long time to be without another person.

There were only so many legends of the world, it was their job to help one another.

And for 300 years, Jack was left out of that.

It pained her to think of all the years Jack had needed someone to comfort him, love him, guide him. Jack was a 300-year-old teen, but every time Tooth thought of him, he was a helpless little boy.

The thought that Jack was with them now and was getting the care he so desperately craved was a small comfort, but if they had assumed Jack was alright for so long - without ever even checking on the boy - who else were they just assuming was alright?

She had to know; they had to help the others.

"Do you think there are other like him? Jack, I mean," asked Tooth as they crowded around North's office. She felt bad about having secret meetings behind the boy's back because it seemed as if they were treating him as if he weren't a guardian anymore, but none of them knew how sensitive he was over the subject of his past, "other spirits who are wondering all alone, the newer spirits who don't have anyone like Jack?"

"Ya mean like the spirits who are still tryin' ta be seen?"

"Yes...we should help them. We should learn from our mistake with Jack."

"I hear nothing of misfortunate spirits!"

"But we didn't hear anything about what Jack went through either until just recently, North, we should help those who are in his place now," the fairy flitted back and forth above their heads, her worry not allowing her to be still.

They were all silent for a moments time, processing what Tooth had said.

"We know eve'y spirit, and I think all o' 'em are known by tha children."

"Well what about new ones? Jack is the last spirit to be created by MiM, we must find a way to track down the new ones once they're made!"

Crash.

Three pairs of eyes fell on Sanderson Mansnoozie, who's arm was still outstretched from dropping a snow globe to the floor which shattered on impact. He had a light scowl on his face, as if he'd been trying for a while now to get the attention of the others.

He exhaled and as the air left his lungs, so did the frown from his face. He waved his hands above his head and formed an image of a clock, hands rapidly turning in reverse.

"A long time ago..." North narrated with his booming voice for the sandman.

Next was a picture of Sandy himself, looking like a mini-replica since it was made of the same sand as the dream man who created it, sitting cross-legged and gazing widely up to a huge, round object with craters and bumps.

"Man in moon told Sandy..."

The mini-Sandy and moon disappeared to form the faces of all five guardians then some stray symbols off to the side like a four-leaf clover, a heart with an arrow through it, a ground hog peering up from a hole.

"That all legends..."

Sandy finished it off with an infinity sign above all the faces and pictures.

"Are forever..."

"We already know we're immortal Sandy!"

Sandy pressed his fingers to his lips to tell the fairy he wasn't done. He hesitated; this part would be tricky. After thinking of how to go about it, the infinity sign morphed into a large check, one children would see on homework or adults would use to check things off on a list; he hoped his friends would understand the message.

"We're...all doing a good job?"

Sandy shook his head at Tooth, then they all fell silent trying to read the pictures for their true meaning.

The sandman sighed and furrowed his brows in deep thought. His eyes lit up with a new tactic. The check faded into large, sandy numbers with a percent sign after them: 100%

"Tha's it o' us? Legends are a-hund'ed pe'cent done?"

Sandy face split into a grin and he let out a silent cheer for Bunnymund's guess as the images all faded away.

"I'm lost, what does that have to do with helping the others?" Tooth put her finger to her lips in thought, but Sandy could see she wasn't going to understand, so he threw more sand dust above him.

It started off with a smiling Jack's face, eyes wide with joy, and an equals sign appeared to the left of the winter spirit and the equation ended from a small bundle of blankets with a young face peeking out: a baby.

"Jack...will always be the youngest legend then?"

Sandy nodded in confirmation.

"So we don't have to worry about anymore legends feeling abandoned and lost?"

Sandy nodded again.

"Oh...well that's a good thing. So we only have to worry about Jack," she giggled, "we only have to worry about the baby of the family."

RotG fact: Bunnymund was originally designed to wear a green robe through the entire movie.